Spring structure.



No'. 765,258.l EATENTBD `JULY 19', 1904;

' o. 0; STEINHOEPQ SPRING" STRUCTURE.;

` APPLICATION I VILEDIIBQm 190,4.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented July 19, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO C. STEINHOFF, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THEBILLOI/VELUPFER COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, A CORPORA- TION OF OHIO.

SPRING STRUCTURE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 765,258, dated July19, 1904.

' appiicaaoniearetruary,1904. stiamo. 192.330. (Nomar) To LZZ whom, itmay concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO C. STEINHOFF, a citizen of the United States,residing at 'Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring Structures, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to spring structures, and especially to the meansand method of forming into a strong durable body a plurality of doublehelical springs; and its object is to greatly simplify the structure aswell as the means and mode of construction of suoli devices, wherebythey are not only cheapened and more easily assembled, but also renderedmore substantial or less liable to separate under great stress;

A further object is to produce a structure in which the network of wiresforming the surface thereof shall be evenly distributed, allowing nocomparatively large openings through which the upholstering or othermaterial supported by the structuremight sink, and also to provide astructure permitting the use of short lengths of wire of comparativelysmall gage in uniting the plurality of springs into one body, andthereby reducing the weight of the finished product.

To this end my invention consists of the means,combinations of parts,and mode of construction hereinafter described, and set forth in theclaims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents aplan view of a reduced structureembodying my invention in which but six helical springs are employed. Itwill be understood that in practice a great number of such springs areused,

as may be necessitated by the required size of the structure. Fig. Qis adetail in perspective, showing the method of interlacing the variousparts. Fig. 3 is a detail of tie-wire.

Like parts are represented by similar letters of reference throughoutthe several views.

In the said drawings, a a represent helical or spiral springs which arespaced equidistant from each other in rectilinear rows, the entireseries being surrounded by a rectangular wire frame a. Those spiralsprings which l are on the outside of the series and adjacent to thesaid rectangular frame a are attached thereto by a series of wire tiesa2. Each of the spiral springs a is further connected to each of itsneighboring springs by a tie-wire b of the form illustrated in Fig. 3.This tiewire is formed froma straight piece of wire by twice doubling itback upon itself at either end, this forming at each end an eye and ahook 52. After the spiral springs have been properly spaced thetie-wires are placed in position by dropping them over adjacent springswith the respective hooks b2 engaging adjacent sides of the surface coilof such neighboring spiral springs a, the eye b extending beyond saidsurface coil into the interior of the spring' a. When the tie-wires?)lare in position, wire strands c are passed between opposite and parallelsides of the rectangular frame a. The eyes b' of the tiewires extendbeyond the surface coil of the spiral spings a and into the path of thewire strands c, and said wire strands c are successively passed throughthe eye of each of the respective tie-wires in their path, and the endsof said wire strands are secu red by wrapping or other means to therectangular frame a. Said wire strands c pass in both directionsz'. e.,at right angles to each other--immediately under the surface coil ofsaid spiral springs a and in close proximity tothe periphery andintersecting each other at points outside the periphery of the surfacecoils. These wire strands may be of comparatively smaller gage than thewire forming the spiral springs, and the tie-wires I) may be of smallergage than said wire strands.

It will be seen that by the tie-wire b passing over the surface coils oftwo neighboring springs, over the corresponding wire strands c, thenceLinder said strands and again over and then under said surface coil andthe fact that the wire strand 0 passes under the surface coil of thespiral spring at points on either side of the point at which it passesover the tie-wire b, (all of which is illustrated in Fig. 2,) the partsare so woven and interlaced as to form a strong durable structure,simple and cheap in construction and especially easy to assemble, inwhich tie-wires and strands of comparatively small gage may be employed,thereby materially reducingthe weight of said structure. It will be alsonoticed that the surface wires are very evenly distributed and that theopenings between said surface wires are of comparatively small size,which is a valuable feature in structures of this class.

By employing the tie-wires with the eyes at their ends and thedownwardly-opening hooks intermediate of the ends it will be seen thatthe hooks engage the surface wires of the springcoils and remain intheir positions by gravity until the transverse strands are passedthrough, when they are locked firmly in their positions without thenecessity of elenching, leaving a perfectly-smooth upper surface.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a structure asdescribed, a rectangular frame, helical springs arranged therein,tie-wires engaging neighboring springs and extended over the surfacecoil of said springs and within the circle of the same, said tiewiresbeing bent to form eyes in their extremities which extend below saidsurface spring-coils, and wire strands extending between opposite sidesof the rectangular frame immediately under the surface spring-coils andthrough eyes formed in said tie-wires, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of spiral springs, tiewires connecting' neighboringsprings, transverse strands passing under the surface coils of saidsprings at right angles to each other and engaging said tie-wires andsurface coils to lock the same together, said transverse strandsintersecting each other at points outside of the periphery of saidsurface coils, substantially as specified.

3. In a structure as described, a rectangular frame, helical springsarranged therein, tiewires extending between neighboring springs, andterminating with an eye at either end, hooks intermediate of said eyesengaging the surface coils of said springs, and wire strands passingunder the surface coils of said springs and engaging the eyes of saidtie-wires, sub- 5. In a structure as described, a rectangularframe,helical springs arranged therein, and

tie-wires provided at each end with a loop and with adownwardly-extending hook, said hooks being adapted to fit over thesurface wire of adjacent springs and wire strands eX- tending across therectangular frame in either direction and projecting' through the loopsof said tie-wire to hold the same in position on said springs,substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day ofFebruary, A. D. 1904.

OTTO C. STEINHOFF.

Witnesses:

N. K. BILLow, Guo. B. LUPFER.

